The background of the invention will be discussed in two parts:
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to baby feeders, and more particularly to a baby bottle holder.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In feeding an infant either in a lying position or in a high chair, many infants are incapable of holding the baby bottle, and even those that are capable of holding the bottle have some degree of difficulty in retaining the bottle manually for a length of time sufficient for proper feeding.
Baby bottle holders have been developed for retaining the bottle in an inclined position adjacent the mouth of the infant. Such baby bottle holders are shown and described for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,016,323 (Dixon); 2,349,054 (Phipps); 2,421,458 (Marino); 2,693,334 (Kacprzicki); 2,807,430 (Medlock); 2,909,346 (Jones); and 3,258,235 (Mozley).
Another such baby feeder or baby bottle holder is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,437,133 issued Mar. 2, 1948 to W. M. Sirks. In the baby feeder of this patent, the baby feeder is in the form of an easel having a front inverted U-shaped member and a rear leg member hingedly coupled along the upper edge. A leaf member is hingedly coupled to the rear surface of the U-shaped member to form a cross leg or interconnecting member with the rear portion of the leaf member having secured thereto two ends of a harness member which extends through apertures in the rear leg member. The upper edge of the U-shaped member has a pocket formed therein for receiving one end of a baby bottle with the harness being configured with a loop for being received over the nipple end of the bottle. While this particular baby feeder enables positioning of a baby bottle adjacent the mouth of an infant, the apparatus requires hinges and a specially configured harness which add to the complexity of manufacturing and the attendant cost of the product.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved baby feeder for holding a baby bottle.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved baby bottle holder composed of few parts for ease of manufacture and assembly.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved baby bottle holder having a single strand of elastic material interlaced through the parts for forming a harness for holding the bottle while providing a hingeable interconnection between the parts.